Converting fewer fields to pasture and fewer administrative controls: this is how the European Commission wants to further reduce the pressure on farmers | Abroad

After the suspension of compulsory set-aside, the Commission once again shows its willingness to tinker with one of the basic standards of the common agricultural policy. For example, she now wants to prevent farmers with reduced livestock farming from having to convert arable areas into pasture again by amending the rules on the stabilization of permanent grassland. The change could be implemented as early as mid-March.

In addition, the Commission wants to ensure that farmers receive up to 50 percent fewer administrative visits by improving the area monitoring system, which allows the government to keep an eye on agriculture. The new method, which can also be presented by March, will give farmers more time to focus on their core activities, according to the Commission, but the Member States are also interested. By March, a clarification of the concept of force majeure should provide farmers with more certainty about their European payments.

The Commission also suggests a number of additional medium-term measures. For example, small agricultural holdings of less than 10 hectares could be exempted from checks on the basic conditions of European policy. They represent 65 percent of beneficiaries, but cover only 9.6 percent of the area receiving aid, the note argues.

Against the backdrop of farmers’ protests in several Member States, President Ursula von der Leyen announced at the European summit on February 1 that her Commission would come forward with proposals for administrative simplification. The memorandum will now be submitted to the European agriculture ministers, who will meet in Brussels on February 26.